❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health on WA's nurse recruitment rates compared to Queensland and Victoria. The Minister defends WA's performance, citing population differences and higher per capita spending.
AnsweredQoN 72Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NURSES AND MIDWIVES — RECRUITMENT
72. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the latest publicly
available health data from the Report on government services 2024 , which
was released three weeks ago today, and to the minister's comments
yesterday that every single health system was under strain during the pandemic.
(1) Can the minister explain why both Queensland and
Victoria were able to recruit more nursing staff than Western Australia
over the course of the pandemic, between 2019 and 2022, given that they were
suffering the same issues in their health systems?
(2) Why was WA
able to recruit only 2 822 nurses between 2016 and 2022 compared with the 5 918
recruited in Queensland and the 6 729 recruited in Victoria?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Before
the minister responds, the first part of the question asked the minister for an opinion—to explain what Queensland
did. You need to be careful with those questions, Leader of the Liberal Party.
72. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the latest publicly
available health data from the Report on government services 2024 , which
was released three weeks ago today, and to the minister's comments
yesterday that every single health system was under strain during the pandemic.
(1) Can the minister explain why both Queensland and
Victoria were able to recruit more nursing staff than Western Australia
over the course of the pandemic, between 2019 and 2022, given that they were
suffering the same issues in their health systems?
(2) Why was WA
able to recruit only 2 822 nurses between 2016 and 2022 compared with the 5 918
recruited in Queensland and the 6 729 recruited in Victoria?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Before
the minister responds, the first part of the question asked the minister for an opinion—to explain what Queensland
did. You need to be careful with those questions, Leader of the Liberal Party.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
do not know whether the Leader of the Liberal Party has been across Western Australia,
Queensland and Victoria, but the size of their populations is significantly
different. Queensland and Victoria have more hospitals and proportionally
larger hospitals. It is a ridiculous preamble. They have proportionality more
hospitals and significantly bigger populations. In the last week of this
chamber in 2023, I listened to the member for Vasse criticise the Western Australian
government for spending the most per capita on health. The basis of her
criticism was that we spend more per head of population on health than any
other state or territory and that the health system is inefficient. That was a direct
criticism of staff. We spend more per head of population than any other state
or territory. We are a uniquely different jurisdiction. We are the largest
health jurisdiction in the world, and we deliver services differently. The
proportionality of that increase is in line with the population.
do not know whether the Leader of the Liberal Party has been across Western Australia,
Queensland and Victoria, but the size of their populations is significantly
different. Queensland and Victoria have more hospitals and proportionally
larger hospitals. It is a ridiculous preamble. They have proportionality more
hospitals and significantly bigger populations. In the last week of this
chamber in 2023, I listened to the member for Vasse criticise the Western Australian
government for spending the most per capita on health. The basis of her
criticism was that we spend more per head of population on health than any
other state or territory and that the health system is inefficient. That was a direct
criticism of staff. We spend more per head of population than any other state
or territory. We are a uniquely different jurisdiction. We are the largest
health jurisdiction in the world, and we deliver services differently. The
proportionality of that increase is in line with the population.
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